If You Don't want to be with Jesus above all else, You won't be Taken!

Forgive me in advance, for this post will be a bit of a rant. Over recent weeks, I've encountered a good number of Christians who have zero interest in the rapture, who say it's years away, who shout that "No Man Can Know the Day or Hour", and who deny we are anywhere near the end of days. I have even talked with family members who are preterists (they believe all the end times prophecies in the Bible have already been fulfilled). Then there's the Dominionists (also mostly preterists) who believe it's the Church's job to take over the world before Jesus returns.

 

Want to know one thing I find in common with all these people? 

 

They love this world. 

 

They have plans for their futures. They want to get married, see their kids married, have grandkids, buy homes, go on vacations, advance in their careers, etc. They have good plans for their future, and they surely aren't ready to go to heaven.  I've even had people say to me "I don't want Jesus to come yet. I want to see my kids have children. I want to raise my grandkids." 

 

These are all good things. But not if they come before your love for Jesus. Jesus is to be our first love above all else, above everything in this world. 

 

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15 

 

That's a tough Scripture. We are told to NOT love this world or anything in it. Why? Because this world is fallen, filled with wickedness and sin, and controlled by Satan. Does God give us good things to enjoy? Yes. But we should NEVER put them above Him.  

 

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 10:37-39 

 

Another tough Scripture, but I don't think Jesus was kidding, do you?  We are not to love anything or anyone above Jesus. Is that because He's some kind of narcissistic God who needs worship? No! He's actually trying to save you! He knows that if you put anything above Him, you're likely to get entangled with the things of this world, which leads to more deception, more entanglement, and eventually hell. 

 

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24 

 

God gave His only Son to live in a fallen human body, endure all kinds of hatred, insults, and rejection, only to die one of the most horrific and painful deaths known to man, in order to save YOU. He has every right to require your utmost love and devotion. How sad it must make Him to see people who claim to know Him, but who would rather live for this world and all its pleasures than follow Him. 

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ Matthew 22:37

The problem lies in truly loving Jesus. We can say we love Him. But if we really don't want to be with Him yet, then do we? If we really and truly love Him above all else, we would want to be with Him above all else. And the rapture would be something we would crave and look forward to with great anticipation. 

If you don't love Jesus like that. If you aren't beyond excited to see Him. If the thought of the rapture makes you uneasy because you have plans, then I encourage you to check your heart. If you love this world and you don't want to go in the rapture, God is a gentleman. He will not take you. 

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth Revelation 3:15-16

It doesn't matter what you believe about the rapture timing or prophecy, if you don't love the Lord with all your heart and desire more than anything to be with Him, you are in a dangerous place. For one thing, it leads to all sorts of deception and false doctrines, which I've seen in my own family. For another, it could get you left behind. 

 

If that is you, please get alone with the Lord and repent and ask Him to teach you how to love Him with all your heart. In my experience, the best way to do that is by spending time with Jesus, in conversation and in His Word. 

Time is short.